A Fate Shattering Soul
by Zayad
Summary: And so, with the mutual deaths of Yhwach and Ichigo, the Spirit King decides to reward Ichigo with a new lease on life. Unfortunately for Ichigo, this world isn't his own and the Spirit King wasn't even nice enough to at least pay his hospital bills. On the other hand, learning something new might just be what Ichigo needs to relax. And pay off his hospital bills. And... find love?


~Bleach/Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's A1 Ch1~

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The nearly inaudible beeping of a life support machine near him was what slowly made his eyes open. It was a damn annoying sound, one that desperately made him want to crush whatever thing was causing that godawful racket so that he could fall back to sleep but in the end, despite the violent tendencies he held towards the machine, he chose to open his sleepy eyes to his seventh day in this strange, new world.

Perhaps a majority of people would have been delighted to discover upon waking up that their death had led to their reincarnation in a different world with all their memories intact— but not Ichigo Kurosaki. HIs first day, a week ago, in this new would had filled him with frustration and anger at both the Spirit King— who had chosen to reincarnate him rather than let his soul pass on to the Soul Society— and his son, Yhwach, who had tried to kill his own father in an attempt to subjugate all reality for his own twisted desire.

Ichigo had sacrificed his life in order to combat Yhwach's usage of Auswalen on the Spirit King himself. Because Yhwach was the son of the Spirit King, his soul and reiatsu was essentially identical to that of the Spirit King. However, because Yhwach has used this "Ultimate Auswalen," the ability had also absorbed the abilities of every being with even a drop of Quincy blood.

Including Ichigo.

However, Ichigo was an amalgamation of creation— a being that should never have existed in the first place— a being only ever dreamed of by the two creators of the Hogyoku— Kisuke Urahara and Sosuke Aizen.

Ichigo was a Human, a Shinigami, a Fullbringer, a Quincy, and a Hollow. He was the natural result of all five aspects of life and death.

And because of his sheer power— all mutated through the combination of powers— he had the ability to subvert the power of the Almighty— Emperor of the Wandenreich and Lord of all Quincy. An unjust god who could foretell the future and render any ability of his enemies absolutely useless with two exceptions.

The first was the right hand of the Spirt King— but in Ichigo's case, he wasn't all that important.

The second was his own power. After all, who would expect one's own ability to be their downfall?

When Yhwach had initiated the "Ultimate Auswahlen," he had not taken into account that he would absorb the power and reiatsu of all Quincy— including the reiatsu of Ichigo Kurosaki, whose very reiatsu was a combination of many types of reiatsu.

The most notable of his many powers was also the most prominent because that particular power had been with him since his birth— the power of a Hollow.

And even Yhwach was susceptible to the universal weakness of the Quincy— reiatsu poisoning by coming into contact with the reiatsu of a Hollow.

Yhwach had died a quick death— the rapid influx of Ichigo's vast and potent reiatsu had been far too much for even the formidable Quincy Emperor and had died within five minutes of initiating the power-draining technique. It was unfortunate for Ichigo that he had been far too drained of his reiatsu to even consider dodging the sore loser's Heilig Pfeil.

Ichigo had at least managed to smirk at the Quincy Emperor as he witnessed the Emperor's hands blow off from his limbs by utilizing the technique and raise both his middle fingers at the bastard, before falling to the ground dead.

And so the world for Ichigo faded to black non-existence— oblivion, where souls destroyed by the Quincy ended up.

Whether for a single second or for eons, he knew not how long he had been sent to that cold, empty world, with no body in which to sense anything and most assuredly no Zanpakuto spirits to give him company, not the wild cackling of Shiro edging him on towards the path of violence nor his sorely missed Zangetsu and his calming presence, sound advice, and warmly welcomed comfort, before a divine presence appeared before him— the only existing divine entity he knew of since Aizen had lost his divinity and his own divinity which had only lasted for minutes.

The Spirit King.

Even then, appearing before him in oblivion itself, he had only spoken two words to him before a single finger touched his forehead lightly and an influx of information and concepts not his nor anything he had ever seen before had poured into and had overloaded his mind— though whether he had a mind in that dark world, he wouldn't ever be sure— before he was sent into blissful and welcomed unconsciousness.

"Thank you."

And then, an unimaginable time later for him— only made more so because his body clock was all messed up from being bodiless— he had woken up in an unfamiliar setting with the foremost thoughts in his mind being instructions left by the Spirit King to fake amnesia so as to learn more about this world without arousing suspicion.

And so, Ichigo did, rapidly devouring books brought to him by the kind staff of Neo Domino Hospital about basic mathematics, writing, and history of the world— all except the latter being similar to his own world.

It was roughly twenty-three years ago that this world diverged from his own timeline other than the fact that Soul Society and Hueco Mundo didn't exist in this new world.

In 1996, the concept of Duel Monsters revolutionized the world, or so the history book said. It was a powerhouse, economically, politically, and socially.

The worst part about it?

_It was a card game._

This world revolved around cards. Not fighting. Not nuclear weapons. Not threats of war. Not mutually assured destruction— though all of these things still existed— but cards.

When Ichigo had first read about this, he hadn't thought very highly of the world for the following three days.

But his mind had completely shattered and adapted to his new situation when his attending nurse had come into his room on the third day following this mind-breaking revelation of cards essentially ruling the world and had handed him a deck of cards.

The Spirit King had imparted the information in Ichigo's mind that had told him that the King could not revive him in his home world because his soul had been destroyed by a Quincy arrow. He would never be able to see his friends and family, allies and even enemies ever again unless their soul too had been destroyed by a Quincy technique— impossible unless the Soul Society decided to show leniency to Uryu after betraying Yhwach and allow him to use his powers again, or if his father decided to take up Hollow-hunting again, or if his own sisters awakened their latent Quincy powers. And even then, it was unlikely that the Spirit King would grant the destroyed souls a new lease on life.

This deck of Duel Monster cards— and three non-useable cards depicting his mother and two sisters— was, along with his memories, the only remaining connection he had to his home world.

It was a deck filled with cards of his friends and family— and a promise by the Spirit King to give him more cards in the near future filled with even more depictions of his friends, allies, and possibly, even enemies.

So, he had decided to take it upon himself to learn how to play Duel Monsters, if only to be able to see them in their hologram form and fight with them, as he had always done. Ichigo was grateful that the Spirit King had also decided to bestow upon him the knowledge of the various effects of his cards.

And also, because the Spirit King had been enough of a dick to not even pay his hospital bills for him or even give him some sort of background that left him with a substantial wealth of money to pay off his hospital bills, he had not a penny to his name nor a place to call home.

And Underground Dueling was the only way to get enough money semi-legally to pay off his first bill at the end of next month as well as find a cheap enough place to call live in, and of course, buy enough food to feed him while doing all this.

So, even if he hadn't wanted to play Duel Monsters, he would have to— if only to not get harassed by collectors to pay his hospital bill or to die by starvation (a home wasn't as important as the former two).

According to Nurse Aika, the nurse who had been attending to him for they days he had been here, the cards of his deck was composed of an unpopular series of cards mostly because the Synchro monsters that made the deck strong enough to use were near impossible to find— with only the creator of Duel Monsters, Maximillion Pegasus possessing all the Synchro monsters for the "Karakura Guardian" series.

And now Ichigo too.

Aika had offered to teach him how to play Duel Monsters by being his first opponent in the game.

Being in the midst of things had been the way that he had picked things up quickly so Ichigo figured he would do better in an actual duel rather than slowly being taught the rules of the game.

The woman who interrupted his thoughts by walking in to his room had a pretty enough face, with blue eyes, short, black hair that did not extend beyond her shoulders, and a kind smile— though her attractiveness paled in comparison to the many women he had met in the final years before his demise. She wore a nurse's uniform— the clothing was relatively tight so as not to get in her way while working. She was the nurse assigned as his caretaker during his— hopefully— short stay in the hospital, Aika.

He smiled slightly at her infectious good mood, "How are you feeling today, Ichigo?"

"Well, thanks. Better than yesterday. A couple days more and I should be up and about," he replied, cordially.

The nurse raised an eyebrow at his bold declaration, "You fractured several bones when that Duel Runner hit you, Ichigo. I don't think you'll be getting up without help anytime soon."

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't feel that much pain when I move around on my bed, so, hopefully that won't be the case."

Aika frowned slightly at the conundrum. The x-rays had clearly shown several fractures in his leg and arm bones though thankfully, nothing too severe. Perhaps they had taken the x-rays wrong? Or perhaps, Ichigo was just a quick healer? It was a shame that Ichigo had amnesia. The only thing he had remembered was his name— and that was only after looking at one of his cards with his own name and image printed on it.

"I suppose we'll have to see in a few days if you're correct or not, Ichigo," Aika said at last. "Now then, have you remembered anything else from your past?"

Ichigo shook his head and the lie rolled off his tongue. "Not really, Aika. Everything's just fuzzy. Like it's at the tip of my tongue but I can't quite put it into words."

Aika's cheerful smiled drooped slightly before picking itself back up and she walked over to the side of his bed and patted his shoulder. "I'm sure it'll come to you eventually, Ichigo."

"Yeah," Ichigo said softly. "Eventually."

A devious glint entered the nurse's eyes. "Now then, I'm sure you've been holding your bladder in all night. Why don't I get you to the bathroom so I can help you pee before I bathe you." She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "Unless you want to pee while bathing? I've never really tried anything that kinky before."

"Unhand me, woman! I can pee on my own! My bones are fractured not broken! You stay away from me you cosplaying pervert!" Ichigo struggled feebly since one of his arms and one of his legs were in casts to properly heal the fractures. "Don't come anywhere near me!"

If Aika were truthful with herself— and she usually was— she rather enjoyed teasing Ichigo. She had discovered, a day after he awoke, that he was rather innocent about anything involving nudity in general. When Aika had told him that she had been the one to undress him and change him into other clothing, his face had turned nearly as red as his namesake. After recovering, he had brusquely told her that he would no longer be needing her assistance in terms of dressing or anything else that involved any of his body parts.

And then he had seen the casts on his arms and legs.

Aika had cackled at his innocence— she would never have expected that such a man whose appearance was usually associated with delinquency was so prudish. Many men in his position would have suggested that she could do a lot more than simply help them pee— and they would have received a verbal berating for their troubles, along with another fee.

But not Ichigo Kurosaki.

And for that, he had endeared himself to her.

And, of course, it was quite fun to make him turn red. Unfortunately for her fun, he seemed to already be used to her sense of humor and teasing. Even when he had shouted at her to not touch him only seconds earlier, it was half-hearted at best compared to earlier in the week when he had actually managed to escape his room and run down several flights of stairs when he thought she had been about to molest him.

That had been absolutely hilarious, made even more so when he had accidentally flashed several of the female staff and even today, had many of the same female staff gossiping about his large... _tool_.

For an innocent man, he certainly had the tool needed to make a woman a very satisfied woman indeed.

It was simply a shame that he had amnesia and had no recollection of whether or not he had a girlfriend— he certainly didn't have a wife judging from the lack of a wedding ring— otherwise she would have been more than inclined to ask him on a date once he was out of the hospital though she would definitely make sure to leave her number with him.

"It's nothing that I haven't seen or touched before, Ichigo," Aika purred into his ear as she grasped at the thin fabric of his hospital attire to begin undressing him.

Ichigo managed to push her hand away. Damn, she was persistent! "Yeah, well back then, I was unconscious and had both of my arms in casts." He waved his free arm at her. "No cast on this arm which means that I am more than capable of pissing in the toilet on my own, Aika. Now get off me, will ya?!"

She pouted at him. "I don't mind helping you out, Ichigo. In fact, it's my job to help you out. I'd be out of a job if I didn't help you out."

Ichigo refused to give into the puppy-eyes technique of the older woman. He had managed to resist Yuzu's puppy-eyes, who was infinitely far cuter than the seductress of a woman before him. "That's not going to work. If that's all you've got, give up now. Besides, I thought you had Sundays off anyways."

Her puppy-eyes expression disappeared in exchange for an embarrassed look. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ichigo stared at her flatly. "You even told me yesterday that you would teach me to duel on your day off the next day. Which is today. Sunday."

Aika thought quickly. "A nurse's job is never done!"

Ichigo shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going to go shower. You are not allowed to enter the bathroom while I'm in there, understand?"

Aika giggled at him and saluted. "Whatever you say, Captain."

Ichigo scoffed before finally getting up from his bed and heading to the shower. "Thanks for this, by the way."

He closed the door behind him before he could see her smile.

...

"Feeling better, Ichigo?" Aika looked up from the cards she had in her hand to face the peculiarly orange-haired man.

"Definitely, Aika," Ichigo cracked his head slightly. "I needed that."

A smirk crossed the off-duty nurse's lips. "Relieved some of that tension from being cooped up all day, did you, Ichigo? I could have done that for you, if you had let me."

A groan escaped Ichigo. "You probably have a pervert's deck. I wouldn't be surprised if I battle some Flasher Dark Magician Girl or something."

Aika laughed. "I guess you'll have to find out. But first, I'm sure you'll want to eat, right?"

As if on cue, his stomach rumbled.

"I am pretty hungry," Ichigo admitted after his stomach stopped demanding nutrients. He frowned. "Do I still have to use the wheelchair?"

Aika grinned. "Yep.

"Damn."

It was rather quiet as they made their way to the hospital cafeteria though granted, not too many patients were up at 9 am on a Sunday morning. That was fine though since Ichigo wasn't much of a talker to begin with, presumably having amnesia, and Aika's coworkers were either at home or working already.

"And here is the up and coming, self-proclaimed Master of Faster— Jack Atlas!" The t.v in the cafeteria cut to a fair skinned, blonde man wearing a white shirt, a long, white trench coat lined with purple, grey pants, and white boots.

"After I go on to the finals and win, I will become your King, Neo Domino City!" Atlas proclaimed, raising his hand to point at the sky.

"I'm pretty sure if I was anywhere in that arena, I would be choking on that guy's arrogance," Ichigo chuckled as he watched the government-sanctioned Domino Tournament to determine who would be the reigning Champion, or rather King, of Neo Domino City.

Apparently, it was a big thing or so Ichigo had read in a book.

Aika nearly choked on her food before struggling to swallow the remainder of her food in order to laugh. "You're right but he is the most favored duelist to win the tournament and become King. Especially with that powerful Ace card of his, Red Dragon Archfiend."

"Ace card?" Ichigo looked from his food and towards Aika with an inquisitive expression.

"An Ace card is a duelist's signature card," Aika explained. "Sometimes, it's a duelist's most powerful card and other times, it's their most favorite card. But almost always, it's a card than can turn a duel around."

Ichigo nodded his head in acknowledgement before standing up, having finished eating during Aika's explanation.

"Well then, shall we go? I'm a little eager to learn how to duel if you don't mind," Ichigo said after noting that the nurse had also finished eating.

"Of course, Ichigo," Aika smiled at his impatience before standing up. "We'll be using the old dueling arena on the ground floor left over from the days when this place used to be a KaibaCorp dueling area. The hospital never got around to demolishing it and it's a great way for patients to be entertained if they get the urge to duel."

Ichigo took in the sight of the dueling arena once the doors had opened to show the place. It was renovated, according to Aika, to have a more modern feel to the room despite the fact the machinery was severely outdated though granted, it had been updated to include the newest release of Duel Monsters and was continuously updated whenever a new pack of monsters was released. During a duel when once placed a card on the field, it was supposed to project a holographic image of the card used— something Ichigo hadn't ever seen before outside Kisuke's inventions which also meant that in terms of technology, this world was a bit more advanced than Ichigo's own world.

Ichigo stepped warily into the blue arena, Aika having used his moment of reflection to hop into the red arena. He looked down and saw the physical representation of the card structure, meaning where each card could be placed. It was composed of two rows of seven rectangular spots each. The top row contained five places where monster cards could be placed, according to the labels displayed, along with the field card zone to the far left of the row and the graveyard to the right. The second and bottom row contained five spaces where spells and traps were to be placed as well as the extra deck zone being located to the far left of the spell and trap card zone and the deck zone to the far right.

Ichigo took his deck out of his pocket, placing the first five cards of his deck in the extra deck zone since they were his synchro monsters and then shuffled his deck around a bit before placing it on the deck zone.

"Ready, Ichigo?" Aika called to him from her place in the red dueling platform.

He gave a slow nod, silently observing every minuscule detail of his own blue platform.

"Then, let's duel!" She shouted from across him.

Following her words, the platforms began rising, startling Ichigo momentarily and a surprised look crossed his face. His face tinged slightly red as he heard Aika giggling at his reaction before suddenly, a serious expression crossed her pretty face.

"Just because you're a newbie at the game, Ichigo, doesn't mean I'm going to hold back against you!"

Apparently, this game was taken more seriously than he had thought. It was just a game... right?

"We each draw five cards at the start of the duel, Ichigo," Aika instructed, drawing from her deck. Ichigo followed suit. "And when one duelist's turn starts, they always draw one card from their deck unless otherwise stated by a card effect."

Ichigo peered at his cards for a moment before gesturing to her. "You can go first."

"Aww, I would swoon over your gentlemanly ways," the nurse smirked at him, "if I didn't know that you don't know how to duel. My turn! I draw!"

"Yeah, I know it's your turn," Ichigo replied, completely ignoring her backhanded compliment. "You don't have to tell me that. Or that you're drawing."

"It's part of the fun, Ichigo. Kind of like cosplaying. You have to get into character if you want anyone to duel you. Otherwise, you'll just be another stick in the mud that no one wants to duel because they're boring," Aika explained.

Ichigo shrugged. _Well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, I guess._

"Alright, if you have a level four or lower monster in your hand, you can normal summon it to the field in attack mode, defense mode, or set it, which means to play it in facedown defense mode unless a card effect or the monster's own effect prevents you from doing so," Aika soon demonstrated her interpretation of the rules of Duel Monsters by placing a card on the field. "I summon out Shining Angel, in attack mode!"

A man with golden wings— evidently an angel, if Ichigo went by the name called out— appeared in hologram in a burst of light and dressed in blue. The outline of a grayish-blue circle appeared in front of it, depicting the name, attack points and star count of the monster. It had 1400 attack points and four stars.

Aika drew Ichigo out of his curious observation of his first monster in hologram form. "You can only normal summon once per turn unless— you guessed it! A card effect tells you to do something different. Fortunately for you, I can't attack on the first turn of the duel so I'll place a facedown and call it a turn."

Ichigo blinked at the rather rapid turn of events. Evidently, it was his turn to do something now.

"Alright then," Ichigo drawled out, placing a finger on the top of his deck and his thumb on the side of the deck facing him so he wouldn't draw more than one card. "Here I go."

Ichigo smiled softly at the card he had drawn— one that depicted his best friend, the gentle giant, Yasutora Sado.

_Why not? It would make for a good first card to wield. My best friend._

"I summon out the Ryoka Invader— Chad, in attack mode!"

His best friend of a different world emerged, standing tall as he always did with a neutral expression on his face. He looked like an ordinary human until he attack or defended.

"1500 attack points and four stars, nice, Ichigo!' Aika praised though Ichigo was flummoxed as to why she was doing so. He was pretty certain that summoning out a monster, even with 1500 attack points was a more common occurrence than not. "Glad to see you've picked up on everything so far. "You can attack on the second turn of the duel, you know? Why don't you try taking on my Shining Angel?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Alright. Chad, take out that angel of hers with Brazo Derecho del Gigante."

Chad's right arm liquified before rapidly solidifying into a black and red armored arm significantly larger than his actual arm. He ran at the angel, punching it, and destroyed it with a single hit.

"What the?" Aika asked to herself. "Why did my life points go down so much? There's only a 100 point difference in our monsters' attacks. So why am I down to 3300 life points?"

Ichigo heard her and explained. "That's because Chad's effect is that when he attacks or is attacked, he gains 600 attack points."

Aika blinked in surprise before her mouth widened into a large smile. "You remembered something?! That's great, Ichigo! Maybe you'll remember more as we continue the duel!"

Ichigo quickly masked his startled expression into a small smile. He had forgotten for a moment that he was supposed to have amnesia. "Yeah, I just remembered."

Ichigo continued, hoping to have a plausible excuse for the rest of his "remembered" card effects. "Now that I'm in an actual duel, I remember most of my cards' effects though I'm still a little lost on the rules."

Aika grinned somewhat savagely which nearly made Ichigo take a step back at the sheer viciousness. If Duel Monsters was what made the normally genial nurse into a violent beast, he'd hate to see what it made already violent people into. "Well then, why don't I remind you, starting with my monster's effect! When my Shining Angel is destroyed, I can special summon one Light monster from my deck with 1500 or less attack points. So let me introduce you to the Agent of Wisdom— Mercury in defense mode!"

The moment Aika placed down the Agent of Wisdom— Mercury in her monster zone, the monster appeared in hologram form on the field though its alien bluish features were greyed out and its wings were crossed in front of him, emphasizing the card's defensive position. It was a 4 star monster with 1700 defense points.

"I'll set two cards," Ichigo said, placing the cards he had selected from his hand facedown in his spell and trap card zone. He gestured to the nurse with his empty hand, "It's your move."

"I draw!" A wry grin flitted across her face. "Now that you've gotten your free hit, Ichigo, I will teach you to despair as your life points slowly decrease to 0 while my own life points stay safe by activating the effect of Zeradias, Herald of Heaven! By discarding this card from hand to the graveyard, I can put the field spell card, The Sanctuary in the Sky to from my deck to my hand! And now, I'll activate it!"

The field changed from its rather drab and plain appearance to simulating the image of a grand, pearly-white palace with towering columns giving off a regal appearance in the midst of clouds floating lazily thanks to a lazy breeze. Ichigo was privately impressed with the technology. There definitely wasn't anything like this back home— not counting whatever Kisuke Urahara or Mayuri Kurotsuchi could come up with.

"With this field spell card, I can't take any damage involving fairy type monsters," Aika proclaimed. "Good luck trying to take down my life points now, Ichigo!"

Ichigo snorted, surprising the nurse with his action. "Was that supposed to incite despair in me, Aika? You looked more like a kitten than the lioness you were trying to be. You're going to have to do much better than that if you want to beat me."

Aika's frown at his words turned into a grin. "Oh, really? Then just stand there and watch! By tributing my Agent of Wisdom— Mercury, I can now summon my Agent of Judgement— Saturn!"

The defense positioned monster shattered into shining blue polygons before a more menacing monster appeared in Mercury's place. She was an intimidating card, with sharp, regal features, light purple colored skin, clothes that reminded Ichigo of an Egyptian Pharaoh, and large, dark purple wings curled slightly around her almost as if she were getting ready to take flight. She was a 6 star monster and had 2400 attack points.

"I hope you didn't think that I was done yet! By banishing the Agent of Wisdom— Mercury from my graveyard, I can use special summon this monster from my hand," Aika explained, "Now bear witness to one of the strongest monsters in my deck, Master Hyperion!"

In a shining brilliance of light, one of Aika's ace cards emerged, the information circle telling Ichigo of Hyperion's 8 stars and 2700 attack points. He was gigantic— that was the first thing Ichigo noticed— a height and stature truly befitting that of a card which shared the same name with a Greek Titan. He wore strange golden armor with a structure reminiscent of that of a bird and his hands were covered in flames that circled vertically in front of him him infinitely with his outstretched hands as the focal point.

"Is that legal?" Ichigo asked, at last. "Isn't there some sort of rule preventing an 8 star monster from being summoned on the third turn?"

"Nope. 5 and 6 star monsters can be summoned by tributing a monster and 7 star or higher monsters with two tributes unless-

"Let me guess, by a card effect," Ichigo finished for Aika.

"You got it," Aika gave a wry smirk, "unless the card says you can tribute something else or that you have to tribute three monsters. Now then, enough stalling, Ichigo! Lucky for you I don't have any Light type fairy monsters to banish in my graveyard to activate Master Hyperion's effect, so we'll switch right for the battle phase! Saturn attacks your monster! Go! Planetary Ring of Destruction!"

Chad's Brazo Derecho del Gigante took on a shield form and due to his ability, his attack points rose to 2100. Unfortunately, he was simply outmatched by the destructive power of Saturn's 2400 attack points and shattered into countless polygons.

Ichigo watched his life point counter drop from 4000 to 3700, the exact difference between Saturn's and Chad's attack points.

"Now, Master Hyperion, direct attack! Ultimate Incineration!"

"Hold on," Ichigo held up a hand. "I'm going to use an effect."

"Oh? Remember that you can only use Quick-Play spell cards or trap cards during your opponent's turn," Aika reminded.

"Right, well I'm not activating a spell. I'm summoning a monster," Ichigo replied. "In defense mode."

"Ichigo," Aika sighed disappointedly. "Did you forget already? You can't summon a monster during my turn."

Ichigo gave her a smirk of his own. "Not unless it's by a card effect. My trap card activates: Hollow Engagement!"

"What does that do?" Aika questioned curiously, having never heard of a trap card by that name.

One of Ichigo's facedown cards had been flipped, with the scene of a pretty if short woman wielding the most beautiful sword Aika had ever seen defending against some demon in a white mask. The edge of her sword was coated with a sheen of ice, with the tip of the sword about to launch an ice type attack.

"This card allows me to summon one Rukia Kuchiki: Shinigami from my hand, deck, or graveyard," Ichigo paused for a second. "I am allowed to use trap cards now, right? I mean, I set it down during my turn so now that it's your turn, I can activate it... right?"

Aika giggled at his cute confusion. "Yes, Ichigo. You can only activate trap cards after you've set them for a turn. Unless a card effect says otherwise."

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he took out Rukia from his deck and placed her on the field in defense mode. Rukia was greyed out and kneeling with her sword in front of her, held vertically, as if attempting to guard against from any incoming attack. She was a 3 star monster with 1600 defense points.

Ichigo looked at her fondly. _Rukia..._

"Master Hyperion is a lot stronger than a measly 1600 defense points! Take her out!" Aika shouting broke through Ichigo's reminiscing of a certain midget.

Ichigo smiled tightly, his smile almost nonexistent, as Rukia shattered into polygons. "Since you're out of monsters, Aika, I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're out of monsters. Now, Rukia's effect activates. At the end of the battle phase in which Rukia attacks or is attacked, I can special summon a Ryoka Invader: Ichigo Kurosaki— Shikai" from my hand, deck, or graveyard."

"Summoning yourself, Ichigo? That's pretty arrogant of you," Aika's voice was tingled with amusement.

"Better to be arrogant than a pervert!" Ichigo shot back. _Though, I would rather deal with Yoruichi's antics than having to deal with Grimmjow on a daily basis._

"It's too bad you're not a pervert," Aika spoke seductively. "We could have had a lot of fun together."

Ichigo refused to meet her eyes for the rest of her turn, which she then ended.

"Now my monster effect comes into play once more. At then end of the turn in which my monster is summoned, I can special summon one Ryoka Invader: Ichigo Kurosaki— Bankai!"

His Shikai form shattered when Ichigo had sacrificed the card to summon his Bankai form. Really, the only thing that had changed was the size of his sword— it had changed from a titanic cleaver to a more streamlined structure of the same length.

"When this card is—" Ichigo began.

"I activate my trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole!" Aika said in a rush. She had been willing to let him have his 2400 attack point monster since it only matched the strength of her weakest monster on the field but even with the Sanctuary in the Sky on the field, her monsters were at risk of being destroyed with a 3000 attack point monster on the field. And it was a picture of himself! She wasn't about to let an injured man attack any of her monsters. It would be embarrassing to lose a duel to a newbie at the game— and one of her own patients with amnesia of all things no less!

"Counter trap card activate: Shunpo! When one of my Shinigami monsters is targeted by a card effect, I can negate the effect and destroy the card," Ichigo used his only free hand to reveal his final facedown card.

Aika gritted her teeth as Ichigo continued his explanation. "Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, when this card is summoned to the field, I can special summon one Shinigami monster from my graveyard! So, come on back, Rukia!"

The pretty woman had appeared again, Aika noted, though this time, in attack position rather defense position.

"Now, it's my draw," Ichigo picked up a card and inspected it before playing it. I activate the Quick-Play spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon! And the card I'm choosing to destroy is your Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Aika frowned as her field spell card was destroyed. It was a shame that she hadn't drawn any card that she could have set down to prevent that from happening.

"Now then, I'm summon the Ryoka Invader: Quincy— Uryu Ishida in attack mode," Ichigo said, after selecting the arrogant bastard from his hand of cards placed at the top of the two rows since his hand was in a mask and the other was used for choosing cards to use.

"That won't be enough to defeat me," Aika taunted him. "He's too weak for me."

A grin crossed Ichigo's face "Not when he removes his Sanrei Glove!"

"Sanrei... Glove?" Aika wondered.

"Well, I guess you would call this a... synchro summoning," Ichigo corrected himself.

"What?!" Aika demanded. _What kind of monster is he going to pull out this time? She snorted quietly to herself. And he complained when I summoned out Master Hyperion! And what the heck is a Sanrei Glove?!_

The moment Uryu appeared, Rukia flew into the sky, being surrounded by a trio of green circles as she glided through them, indicating the beginning of a synchro summon. Then Uryu flew the same green circles once Rukia disappeared, also disappearing and merging into the synchro monster.

Getting into the groove, Ichigo decided to chant like he had seen Jack Atlas do on the television when he had summoned his Red Dragon Archfiend. He figured it was a synchro summoning thing so he decided to follow suit and get into the game. "Powerless now, bear witness to the power of a Quincy. Behold, the ultimate technique a Quincy possesses— the Destruction Sage's Final Form!"

The very field itself began glowing blue as the hologram generator recreated Uryu absorbing the very spirit particles that composed all things— he figured that the Spirit King had done something to make it as similar as possible to reality in his home reality. Finally, Uryu manipulated the spirit particles to creating his own bow— made of glowing blue reshi rather than the usual silver of a regular Quincy bow.

Aika gazed at the synchro summoned monster in awe and just a bit of fear.

Quincy: Letzt Stil— Uryu Ishida.

7 stars.

2800 attack points.

Just 100 attack points more than her strongest monster, Master Hyperion.

Aika gritted her teeth. She knew exactly what would happen next. Ichigo would use his monsters to destroy her monsters and the next turn, unless she drew a card that could turn the tides of battle— she would lose.

Aika was almost correct.

"Thanks for taking the time to teach me today, Aika," Ichigo gave her a genuine smile— a few of the few he had ever given since the death of his mother. "But it's all over for you."

"What do you mean, Ichigo? I have at least another turn left. You're decent for a newbie but even I can survive for another turn or two. I can still turn things around if I draw the right card," Aika asked, befuddled with his declaration.

"Quincy: Letzt Stil— Uryu Ishida can attack all of your monsters! Take 'em out, Uryu! Licht Regen!" The guttural sounding of Ichigo's foreign words startled Aika for a second— she hadn't know that he knew German.

The smartly dressed man ascended into the air, drawing his bowstring to his reshi-created and gathering an obscene amount of reshi just over his left arm and shoulder. Then, with a shout of "Licht Regen!" Uryu let loose an uncountable amount of arrows at his targets, the Angel of Judgement— Saturn and Master Hyperion.

They were destroyed instantaneously as the first reshi-composed arrows made contact with their targets. The rest of the arrows were overkill— though Ichigo knew that if Uryu were here, he would say something along the lines of _'It's best to make sure that the enemy is truly dead, Ichigo. If I have to shoot more arrows than necessary to do so, then so be it.'_

A corner of his lips lifted upwards nearly unnoticeably as Aika's life points went down by 500 points to 2800.

"Finish it off, Ichigo. Full power! Getsuga Tensho!"

The Ichigo on the field adopted the pose of a kendo practitioner attempting to attack the head with Tensa Zangetsu. He also mimicked his words, strangely enough.

"Full power!" The Bankai Ichigo grunted as his sword was enveloped in a swirling, blue reiatsu.

"Getsuga!"

And then, he sliced the air in front of him.

"Tensho!"

The attack took its own shape, a screaming crescent wave of death that struck Aika who had reflexively put her arms up in front of her in reaction to facing impending doom had engulfed her in its swirling inferno. As Aika's life points dropped to 0, the wave of reiatsu slowly dissipated.

And then clapping started.

The duel had only lasted four turns but it had been a long duel with all the explanations that Aika had given him, it had lasted nearly as long as an average-length duel. Neither of them had noticed that a few people had followed them into the arena to witness their duel.

"Great duel!" One spectator cheered to the both of them.

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders as both platforms descended to the ground level. Almost immediately, a young boy ran past him, flashing him a quick grin and congratulating him on his victory before replacing him on the blue platform. Aika experienced the same, only with a young girl replacing her on the red platform.

"Congratulations on your victory, Ichigo," Aika complimented, only somewhat disappointed that she hadn't managed win against a newbie duelist.

Then again, she wasn't the most powerful duelist, relying upon a slightly customized prebuilt structure deck to duel though she did enjoy the images on her cards. She focused on her work more, treating the injured, infirm, and sick than playing a card game. Duel Monsters was more of a recreational activity for her, one she did in her off time as a stress reliever. It was something where she could let go of all her emotions and really let loose rather than keeping them bottled like she had to during work even when dealing with annoying patients who managed to get under her nerves.

Thankfully, Ichigo wasn't like that at all.

"Thanks, Aika. And thanks again for teaching me the rules," Ichigo expressed his gratitude. "I have a feeling I'll be even more thankful when I'm finally out of the hospital and dueling for money."

Aika laughed softly. She had heard him contemplate dueling for money when Ichigo had finally gotten over the fact that cards were a major aspect of the world. "I look forward to watching you at a tournament then. You're a natural at Duel Monsters."

Ichigo waved away her compliments. "Nah, I just pick things up fast. I'm sure if I hadn't drawn the right cards, I would have lost against you. And I'm sure I'll lose some in the future. But that's alright since I can only get better."

Aika smiled broadly at him, amusement flitting across her eyes. "My, Ichigo, that's a surprisingly mature thing to say coming from you. I hope you apply that sort of philosophy to all aspects of life.

Much to Ichigo's chagrin, she glanced unashamedly to his crotch.

"Stop looking there, you cosplaying pervert!" Ichigo turned slightly away. "And for that matter, why are you in a nurse's uniform anyways?!"

Aika laughed at his cute embarrassment. "I have to go, Ichigo. My sister's been planning a lunch date so that all three of we sisters can catch up with one another." She turned to leave, only looking back to tell Ichigo, "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Ichigo held up a hand. "See you Monday."

As Aika exited the building, she absentmindedly rubbed her raw forearms. They had been slightly burned during Ichigo's monster's final attack and they were only now starting to heal— which surprised her since burns never healed this fast. And then, she remembered that Ichigo had said he didn't feel as much pain as he did earlier in the week. These two things led Aika to one thought.

_Does this mean Ichigo is one of those Psychic Duelists?_

~Bleach/Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's A1 Ch1~

**A/N: Ichigo's deck is under another title called "Ichigo's Cards." Let me know how I can better the way I write duels. This duel was short but only because Ichigo managed to have the right cards this time. And, Aika (sorry about the OC but I didn't find any names for doctors or nurses in Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's) is a significantly weak duelist compared to the likes of Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan, Yusei Fudo, and Akiza Izinski. Well, I just named most of the main characters there. So, defintely weaker than the main characters so far though that'll change once he gets into the groove of things. **

**Let me know if you liked it, disliked it, things I change or alter... you all get the idea. **

**As always, **

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
